Former KU star Paul Pierce to be inducted into Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Former University of Kansas basketball forward Paul Pierce, whose jersey has been retired by both KU and the NBA’s Boston Celtics, on Sunday was named a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021.
Pierce joins five other players and two coaches in the class, which will be inducted next November in Kansas City.
From the time he arrived on campus, Pierce was a star. He earned All-Big Eight, freshman All-American and Co-Big Eight Freshman of the Year honors in 1996. As a sophomore, he garnered the Big Eight Conference Tournament MVP award.
As a junior, Pierce earned the same tourney MVP honor and was named to the All-Big 12 first team. He was a consensus All-American and a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith awards. He finished his Jayhawks career as KU’s fifth-leading scorer all-time.
The Celtics selected the Inglewood, Calif., native 10th overall in the 1998 NBA Draft. He spent 19 seasons as a pro with the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers. He was a 10-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA selection and 2008 NBA champion. Pierce’s jersey was retired at KU in 2003 and by the Celtics in 2017.
Pierce, who was inducted into the Kansas Sports All of Fame in 2018, joins Danny Manning as Kansas inductees into the college hall of fame, which was founded in 2006. Former Jayhawks Phog Allen, Clyde Lovellette and Wilt Chamberlain, already members of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, were honored as part of the college hall’s founding class
Also part of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame 2021 class are players Len Bias of Maryland, UCLA’s David Greenwood, Hersey Hawkins of Bradley, Ohio State’s Jim Jackson and North Carolina’s Antawn Jamison.
The coaches are Rick Byrd, who won most of his 805 games at Belmont, and Tom Penders, who took four different programs to the NCAA Tournament.
Bias was destined for stardom. He was a two-time ACC player of the year at Maryland and was the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Celtics. Two days later he died from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose.
Greenwood was a two-time All-America and Pac-10 player of the year. He was a three-time all-conference selection and stands 17th on the Bruins’ career scoring list with 1,721 points.
Hawkins was a scoring machine. He finished his college career with 3,008 points, 10th most in major college history. He twice was named Missouri Valley Conference player of the year and the 1988 national player of the year by The Sporting News and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association of America.
In three seasons with the Buckeyes, Jackson averaged 19.2 points per game. He was named Big Ten player of the year and was a consensus All-America in 1991 and 1992.
Jamison helped guide the Tar Heels to Final Four appearances in 1997 and 1998. He swept the national player of the year honors in 1998 and finished his three-year career with a 19.0 scoring average.
Byrd retired after the 2019 season. His career started at Maryville, Tenn., and continued at Lincoln Memorial before he arrived at Belmont in 1986. He led the Bruins to eight NCAA Tournaments and his Belmont teams won 17 regular-season and conference tournament titles.
Penders was head coach at seven schools — Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas, George Washington and Houston. He won 648 games in a career that ended in 2010.
The class will be honored at an induction ceremony next November at the downtown KC College Basketball Experience.